Sphinx by american87idiot

Format: Commander

Commander: The Ur-Sphinx

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 45

Deck overview

This deck is a synergistic Esper tribal strategy built around large flying Sphinxes and the repeated velocity of Sphinx's Approach. The Ur-Sphinx provides a passive cost reduction from the command zone, enabling early deployment of high-impact creatures. The engine comes online around Turn 4 with Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign, turning every subsequent Sphinx cast into a card-advantage burst. The deck uses 15 copies of Sphinx's Approach to continuously draw cards, fill the graveyard, and tutor key creatures directly onto the battlefield. Critical onset arrives on Turn 5 as game-warping creatures like Magister Sphinx and Medomai the Ageless hit the board alongside asymmetric board wipes like Raise the Palisade. It finishes opponents through overwhelming evasive combat damage by Turn 7. The deck boasts strong card flow and robust recovery, operating smoothly even without ever casting its 9-mana commander.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azor, the Lawbringer
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Consecrated Sphinx
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Dazzling Sphinx
  • 1 Defiler of Dreams
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Denzilore Fatehold
  • 1 Displacer Kitten
  • 1 Dream Eater
  • 1 Dream Trawler
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
  • 1 Elenda and Azor
  • 1 Enigma Sphinx
  • 1 Enigma Thief
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Firdoch Core
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Herald's Horn
  • 1 Hullbreaker Horror
  • 10 Island
  • 1 Isperia, Supreme Judge
  • 1 Kindred Dominance
  • 1 Kindred Judgment
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Magister Sphinx
  • 1 Mana Vault
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Master of Predicaments
  • 1 Medomai the Ageless
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prognostic Sphinx
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
  • 1 Raise the Palisade
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflections of Littjara
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Sapphire Medallion
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sphinx Ambassador
  • 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions
  • 1 Sphinx of Forgotten Lore
  • 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
  • 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
  • 15 Sphinx's Approach
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 The Ur-Sphinx
  • 1 The Water Crystal
  • 1 Tivit, Seller of Secrets
  • 1 Uldaros Theorix
  • 1 Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign
  • 1 Urza's Incubator
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Windreader Sphinx
  • 1 Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign